Reversal
by Dragonfriend
Summary: Stories can be told over and over again. But what if something in the story changed ever so slightly and everything as you knew it was in reverse? slight AU;angst;shonen-ai Chapter Three Up
1. Pools of Blue

**Disclaimer:** First of all, Watase Yuu-sama is a goddess. I own none of anything used in this story. I still won't, even if I legally change my name to Watase Yuu. Damn. (Since I'm twisting around a lot of the original characters, does that make them mine? Hmm…) In any case, please do NOT, I beg of you, sue me unless you honestly want possession of pencils and scraps of notebook paper with bad beginnings to fan fics on them.

**Warnings:** Rated R for strong language, angst, shonen-ai/yaoi implications, sexual innuendo…and…well…that pretty much covers it.

**Notes:** Oh boy. This is a veeeeeery different type of story for me. AU for reasons very obvious right away. I am perfectly willing to be flamed. (Note the perfectly willing. I just won't listen to any flames I'm given.) Oh, and there will be small amounts of Japanese. Any Japanese used will be translated at the end of each chapter. I promise. Except where it should be obvious. (As in shichiseishi or the more commonly abbreviated form of seishi. We should all know what a seishi is by now.)

And, in trying to keep with an episode feeling…each chapter has two titles…sort of. ^_^ The first one is the official chapter title. The second one sort of…explains or emphasizes the first title or events in the chapter.

**REVERSAL  
  
Chapter One:  
"Pools of Blue"  
The Very Depth of Bitterness**

The large audience chamber was oddly quiet for once. The room was empty, pillars lining both sides of the hall, while the marble floor led to a set of marble stairs that seemed to reach to the ceiling. At the top of these stairs sat a throne carved out of gold, a painting of the phoenix god Suzaku covering the wall behind it. In the throne sat the Suzaku no shichiseishi Hotohori, the emperor of Konan. He frowned, leaning forward in the throne, placing his elbows on the armrests and knitting his hands together to create a flesh platform for his chin to rest on momentarily. He had banished his advisors and ministers from the room for a moment of solitude. In his silent contemplation, he began to think of Kutou. Now that it had been dealt with…

There was a twin banging from a set of doors, accompanied by footsteps. Hotohori straightened instantly, allowing his hands to remain where they were. Two soldiers melted out of the darkness, half-dragging, half-escorting a body with an unruly mop of blonde hair. From what Hotohori could make out, the man between the two guards was wearing armor and armed with a sheath that had probably housed a sword. But the sheath was empty now; the guards had probably confiscated it prior to bringing him here. Hotohori raised an eyebrow, watching the blonde. He had thought that Kutou had eradicated a tribe of them at least ten years ago. Needless to say, the blonde intrigued him…but he wasn't sure why.

"We gave orders that we were not to be disturbed," Hotohori snapped, glaring down at the soldiers. A frown traced his delicate, sculpted lips.

"A thousand apologies, heika," one said, "but this man was trying to gain entry to the palace." On cue, both soldiers shoved the blonde forward. He stumbled to the floor a foot from the staircase that led to Hotohori. The blonde made no immediate move to get up. The back of his chest plate had burn marks on it. Hotohori's frown deepened, inadvertently pursing his lips.

"Why bring him to us?" Hotohori wondered, punctuating the question with a delicate hand gesture. "Is this not trivial?"

"We believe him to be Kutou's shogun, heika," the other replied. "He bears a mark of Seiryuu."

Hotohori's eyebrows shot up. "Mark of Seiryuu…" The blonde got to his feet, dusting himself off as he did. Even with the distance that separated Hotohori from this man, his beauty was undeniable. Granted, he would have appeared far more attractive to Hotohori had he not been glaring at him. The blonde's blue eyes were narrowed into slits, almost shooting daggers up at the young emperor.

"Bastard!" the shogun cursed. "What gives you the right to invade our lands and kill innocents? What makes Suzaku so damn powerful to make him think that------"

One of the soldiers gasped in shock while the other kicked the shogun in the knees from behind. The blonde cried out in pain, collapsing once again on the floor. The second soldier drew his sword and, in one fluid motion, grabbed the shogun's hair, yanking his head back to expose his neck.

"Do not speak so to the emperor!" the second soldier snarled, bringing his sword to the shogun's throat. "Request permission to kill him, heika."

Hotohori's eyes locked with those of the shogun. The life had drained from the blue daggers of eyes in an instant, a flash of acceptance of death. All Hotohori had to do was say the word and the shogun would be dead, adding another death to the growing list of deaths by Konan's hands. _No_, Hotohori thought. To let him die now would be far too easy. The shogun must be made to suffer.

And suffer he would.

"Permission denied," Hotohori finally spat, standing gracefully.

The soldiers and shogun turned confused eyes to the emperor. Hotohori made his way down the staircase, each step bringing him closer to the blue, defiant eyes that insisted on taunting him. The soldier holding the general sheathed his sword while the other soldier pinned the shogun's hands behinds his back. The shogun made no movement to struggle, content to stare in anger at Hotohori who cleared the last step and turned his imperious amber eyes to the shogun.

"What is your name?" Hotohori demanded.

"Go to hell!" the shogun snapped.

"He asked you a question," the soldier growled, tightening his grip on the shogun's wrists.

A flash of blue sparkled on the blonde's forehead, growing in intensity. His bangs parted slightly to reveal a glowing character. Hotohori backed up on instinct, his eyes not believing what he was seeing.

_A mark of Seiryuu._

"Leave me be!" the shogun shouted. A burst of energy, presumably ki, shot from his hands, slamming into the soldier who went sailing towards the far wall. Hotohori stared at the shogun in astonishment. Now he knew why the Kutou emperor had kept this man around, if only for entertainment value. The shogun sank to the floor again, hands resting in front of him for support, breathing heavily. Now Hotohori needed to know his name. He had to.

"You bear a mark of Seiryuu," Hotohori snapped, returning the shogun to reality. "Your name! Quickly, or we will kill you."

"What does it matter?" the shogun asked, his voice taking on a desperate, bitter note. "I'm dead anyway. My country exists in name only."

"Speak to a fellow shichiseishi," Hotohori crooned, making his voice as gentle as he could manage. "Your name, and you will be safe."

There was a moment of silence. Something flashed in the blue eyes…desire, perhaps? The shogun turned scared eyes upon Hotohori, taking in the emperor for a moment. He drew in a shaky breath, then averted his eyes.

"Nakago," the shogun whispered, the tone of finality behind it. "I am the Seiryuu no shichiseishi Nakago.

Hotohori smiled. He had thought himself lucky upon having Kutou's shogun in his grasp. Not only did he have the heart of the Kutou army, but he also had one of their shichiseishi. The day could not possibly be going any better. He knelt by Nakago, cupping the blonde's chin in his palm.

"We gave you our word. You are safe," Hotohori whispered. Blue eyes locked their gaze on the amber pools before them. But the blue was wide, full of fear. "You. Are. Mine." Nakago's eyes widened even more, noticing the lapse of the royal "we". Hotohori gently tilted Nakago's head to the side, then roughly pulled his head towards Hotohori's. At the last possible moment, Hotohori's head titled, allowing their lips to lock. Nakago made a muffled protest, yet made no move to resist. If it were possible, his eyes would have widened considerably more. Hotohori smiled against the shogun's lips, closing his eyes, deepening the kiss without realizing he was doing so.

Nakago jerked himself from Hotohori's grasp, falling unceremoniously backwards to the floor. Hotohori opened his eyes in amusement, watching Nakago stare at him in shock. _This is wrong_, Hotohori heard Nakago's blue eyes say. _This is wrong. He should not be taking pleasure from this…from me…_

"You belong to us now," Hotohori said simply, getting up off the floor and smoothing out the front of his robes.

"Touch me again, and I swear I'll cut you down where you stand!" Nakago spat, staggering to his feet and stumbling away from the emperor.

"You want to die, then?" Hotohori asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is death truly what you want?" Nakago looked to the floor, absently brushing strands of blonde hair from his face. "We offer you a choice. Life or death."

"'Life'?" Nakago demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hn. I believe, _heika_, that you mean 'life in prostitution'." Hotohori frowned. There was a challenge in Nakago's eyes, in his posture, in his very voice. It was challenge that Hotohori was more than willing to accept. And the way he had spoken his honorific…it sounded as though, even under the Kutou emperor, he had never allowed anyone the satisfaction of knowing that one man held power over Nakago.

"Die then," Hotohori snapped, mimicking the shogun's posture. "We care precious little for your welfare. However, we feel we are being more than fair."

"Fair?!" Nakago demanded incredulously, hands lowering to gesture with them. "You slaughtered my troops and innocent people and you call that fair?!"

"It is true," Hotohori replied, making no move to deny it. "We will neither deny nor denounce our actions. But we wish that you live. After all, how is what we will do to you different from what your former master would have done given the same situation?" Nakago stiffened, and Hotohori saw his hands clench into fists. Hotohori allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. It seemed that he had struck a sensitive subject. Excellent. "Perhaps you merely need time to think it over. After all, when was the last time you had something to eat or slept?"

"That's none of your damn business," Nakago replied. But there was no life behind it. Hotohori felt a small pang of satisfaction, but the satisfaction quickly melted. To break him this quickly…no, that would never do.

Hotohori turned his back on the shogun, slowly mounting the stairs to take him back to his throne. With a wave of a hand, he said, "Take him away. We will deal with him later."

In response, he heard twin sets of footsteps running forward to do as he asked. Three individual pairs of footsteps made their way out of the room, followed by the closing of doors. Hotohori smiled. This, perhaps, was going to be counted amongst the higher points of his year.

__________

Hours later found Nakago sitting in a dungeon cell, knees drawn up to his chest, back against the wall. It was rather cold in the dark cell and the soldier guarding him assumed that Nakago did this for warmth only. He peered at Nakago through the bars of the cell from his chair. Nakago was going to have a very hard time trying to convince the soldier that he meant him no harm. That is, if the soldier got the idea into his head to attempt to speak to Nakago as if he were a civilized human being.

_I am a Seiryuu no shichiseishi,_ a voice that sounded very much like his said. _You work for the Kutou emperor. You can never, and will never, sell yourself to the royal brat of Konan to retain your life._

Nakago shuddered. The very thought of the Kutou emperor was enough to cause bad memories to spring to the surface of his thoughts. No one knew what the emperor of Kutou had done to him, those various nights that he had been called to the royal chambers presumably to discuss battle plans. No one knew. Or, if they did know, they kept quiet about the frequent nightly visits. Nights where what happened to him depended on the emperor's mood…

Damn it! Stop! He defiled you. The emperor of Konan took your revenge for you. Be happy. He did you a favor…

_No. No, that revenge should have been MINE!_

Nakago clamped his hands over his ears. This couldn't be him. It couldn't. He wouldn't be thinking such things. And yet, part of his mind that was the ruthless military commander that everyone thought him to be was shouting at him to strike at the emperor of Konan…to kill him with the powers granted to him by Seiryuu…rid Kutou of its aggressor.

But that would just be playing into the emperor's hands. He was not going to be anyone's puppet. Not any more.

Nakago then became aware of a set of footsteps. He looked up as a man came into view…a man whose blue hair was gently pulled back into a low ponytail. His armor was a cruel imitation of Nakago's own, and Nakago felt a sense of dread fill his heart.

"Sho---shogun!" the soldier sitting in his chair exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He gave the newcomer a salute.

"Shogun?" Nakago whispered to himself, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously.

"I'm looking for the prisoner heika sent down here earlier," the newcomer replied easily. Without another word, the soldier pointed directly at Nakago. While the shogun eyed Nakago with distrustful eyes, Nakago stood, his eyes meeting the musty ones that seemed to be piercing daggers at him. "So. You are Kutou's shogun."

Nakago gave him the barest hint of a nod. He wasn't sure he liked the way that the shogun paced outside Nakago's cell, like a wildcat ready to pounce upon him. Nakago kept his eyes steadily following him, his body remaining rigid.

"You are to come with me," the shogun spoke again. He turned to the soldier, still standing at attention. "Unlock the door."

The soldier nodded and hurriedly did his bidding, darting forward and with a fumbling hand slipped the key into the lock, turning it. Slowly, deliberately, he drew the door open. Nakago stood still.

"You are to come with me," he repeated. "Now."

"I go nowhere," Nakago returned, eyes narrowing a bit at the shogun.

"You come," the shogun repeated. "Or must I force you?" And, in that moment, the shogun's bangs parted to reveal a glowing red symbol behind them. "I'm sure Suzaku won't mind if I slaughter you here…but heika has other ideas."

Nakago's eyes went wide. This shogun…he was a Suzaku no shichiseishi! And his symbol was in the exact same place… Without warning, Nakago felt his fingers brush his forehead over the spot where his symbol rested. As if responding to his touch, the symbol flared, bright blue fighting against pure blood red.

"Hn. Seiryuu no shichiseishi," the shogun announced, crossing his arms over his chest. "Come. Heika wants to speak with you."

Nakago closed his eyes, a feeling of dread overcoming him once again. But, no. To show weakness now…that would not be suitable.

"Seiryuu…" Nakago whispered. "Please…show me what you wish of me…"

His foot slowly stepped forward, his other foot following. Yet, Nakago was strangely aware that this was not of his doing. Fine, then. If Seiryuu wanted him to go with this man, then so be it.

"Good," the shogun replied. "Follow me."

Nakago felt himself do as he was told, slowly mimicking the shogun's steps. Silence befell the two until Nakago could no longer stand it.

"Who are you?" Nakago demanded.

"You are in no position to ask me such a thing," the shogun replied, "Seiryuu no shichiseishi Nakago."

Nakago almost froze. He was at a disadvantage. Presumably, everyone in the Konan palace knew who it was that walked with the shogun of Konan. "Then…at least tell me what your emperor wishes of me."

"Hn," was all the shogun said. "Why you say that…'your emperor?' He is now _your_ emperor, as well."

"Never," Nakago growled.

Nakago should have seen the movement before he did. The shogun spun around, grabbed Nakago's shoulders, and shoved him against a nearby wall. His face, a mask of anger and hatred, soon loomed before Nakago as the blonde made contact with the wall. Hard. Pain radiated through his armor, spreading like wildfire across his back. Nakago did not even have time to react before the shogun held a small dagger to Nakago's throat. The dagger glinted in the light; the cool metal breathed closely to his exposed flesh. Through bangs of blue, the symbol that marked him as a seishi of Suzaku burned, but not as brightly. Nakago took a moment to study it. The emperor of Kutou had seen fit to keep Nakago educated as to the names of his seishi enemies and the mark that signified them.

_Oni,_ Nakago thought, staring hard at the mark. _Ogre. Demon…_ And then he was able to link a seishi name to the symbol. _Tamahome!_

Finally, the shogun, Tamahome, pulled away from Nakago, concealing the dagger once again. Nakago's hand instinctively went to his throat where the blade had been only moments before. He had been very lucky to get off with his life, he supposed.

"You belong to heika now," Tamahome snapped, starting off down the hall. "Act like it."

"As you wish," Nakago heard himself say, his voice mincing formality, "Suzaku no shichiseishi Tamahome."

Tamahome looked as though he wished to pause, as well, yet did not. Nakago thought he saw the barest hint of a smile grace the shogun's lips for a moment. Nakago felt himself smiling, as well, triumphant in his small victory. They walked in silence for a few more moments before Tamahome stopped in front of a set of ordinary looking double doors. They were large and white, painted with a phoenix motif. Tamahome raised the back of his armored hand towards the door and rapped twice upon it with one of his knuckles. A moment later, a voice from within, slightly muffled by the doors, shouted, "Come!" In response, Tamahome shoved the doors open, then promptly stepped inside, leaving Nakago no choice but to follow.

The room was dimly lit, but Nakago needed no light to tell what was within this room. The scent in the air of cooked meat was enough to tell him this was a smaller banquet hall. As his eyes adjusted, he could see a long table, traditionally cut and low to the ground, spread out in front of him. It seemed, to him, to fill the entire room. Standing at the far end of the room, still wearing his golden robes from earlier, was the emperor of Konan. His arms were folded across his chest, hands lost in the large, billowing sleeves of the robes. Nakago felt his heart grow cold. Remembering what the emperor of Kutou had taught him about the seishi, he remembered hearing the emperor of Konan closely associated with the name Hotohori. Was he this…Hotohori?

Tamahome bowed formally from the waist, never taking his eyes off the floor. "I have brought Kutou's shogun as you ordered, heika." Nakago glanced over at Tamahome, watching his face to see if this would reveal any clues as to why he had been brought there. All he saw on Tamahome's face was confusion hidden by a mask of formality.

"Excellent." Nakago noticed that the emperor seemed truly pleased by this. His arms unfolded, raising his right arm to point at Tamahome. "We no longer require your services. Leave us." He might have started out with the traditional royal "we", but the "us" at the end of that statement did not have its formality behind it. It was meant to include Nakago.

"As you wish, heika," Tamahome replied. He rose, clicking his heels together, and marched out the doors, slowly closing the set of double doors that they had entered in. A bang escaped as he did so. Nakago jumped, spinning to look at the closed white doors.

He was trapped.

The emperor's hand was still outstretched to where Tamahome had once stood. It moved just enough so it pointed at Nakago. "You." The hand turned palm up; the finger outstretched still pointing towards him. "Come here." The emperor beckoned towards his own person, indicating quite clearly the direction Nakago was to travel. Nakago looked hesitant, eyes nervous for a half a moment. Then, finally, he strode across the floor, coming closer and closer towards the strong, untouchable figure that was the emperor. He stopped, keeping at least a foot between them.

"You sent for me?" Nakago demanded.

"Yes," the emperor replied, a smile tracing perfect lips. "I did." The lapse of the royal "we" was unnerving to say the least. "Please. Sit." He gestured to the table that rested behind Nakago. "I arranged for this for the two of us."

"Why?"

The emperor raised a sculpted eyebrow, a hint of amusement behind the gesture. "Am I correct in my assumption that you have eaten next to nothing over the course of the past few days?"

"Why concern yourself with my welfare?" Nakago wondered, not wanting to admit that what he said was, indeed, the truth.

"I have no need of you collapsing due to starvation," he replied simply. "Now, will you sit?" The barest hint of an amused smile traced the emperor's lips, amusement glittering behind his eyes. "Or are we to take our meal standing up?"

Nakago could detect a faint hint of mockery in the words. However, while he refused to admit it, Nakago was hungry…but this was a mild bit of satisfaction that he would not allow his captor to learn of. Nakago was feeling a bit faint…most likely from lack of food. He fixed the emperor with a firm look before abruptly turning and marching to the far end of the table. Reaching it, he spun smartly on his heel, looking at the emperor who was facing him from the other end of the table. Their actions seemed to be timed together as both cautiously got to their knees, sitting on their folded legs to appropriately reach the table.

"I'll ask you again," Nakago stated after a moment of silence, taking a glass of tea in his hands, "why concern yourself about my welfare?" He blew gently on the tea, watching the steam billow away from his breath. He stared at the green-tinted liquid within the porcelain cup for a moment before tilting some of the liquid within into his mouth. The warmth spread through him, relaxing him somewhat in the presence of the emperor.

"Why ask so many questions?" the emperor asked. "Is it not enough that I am willing to spare your life?"

"No," was the immediate response. "No one has ever given a damn about me. And I think you know that…Hotohori." Nakago saw the emperor stiffen for a moment, in the process of raising his chopsticks to his lips. The amber eyes that had stared at him so mockingly before looked up at him through slight lashes, staring at him.

"Most call me 'heika'," the emperor snapped. This response caused Nakago to surmise that he had guessed the emperor's seishi name correctly. "See that you do so, as well. You belong to me now, and should act accordingly."

"I belong to no one!" Nakago fumed. He slammed his teacup down on the table, droplets of green sprinkling out like a fountain. "Least of all you…a murdering shichiseishi that is a disgrace to your god!"

Nakago saw the hand that was gracefully clenched around the chopsticks clench tighter in anger. "You belong to me. End of discussion."

Nakago opened his mouth to reply, words of fire burning his mouth, his very soul. Then he stopped himself, watching Hotohori, the emperor of Konan. He appeared to be slowly moving in and out of focus to Nakago's eyes. He frowned, words forgotten. Nakago put a hand to his head, his hand inadvertently covering an eye, a vain attempt to alleviate the onset of a sudden headache…an attempt that was rapidly failing. His breath caught in his throat, more startled than anything else. And he stared at the amber eyes, desperately trying to keep one thing in focus amidst the black that threatened to consume him. Hotohori's entire face came into vision once again, a cruel smile tracing his lips.

"You. Are. Mine," the lips said, sound lost in ears that refused to accurately process the voice.

Before the darkness took over Nakago's mind completely, he had the strangest sensation that he was falling…falling into a dark tunnel of nothing.

__________

Hotohori had watched with growing amusement, staring at Nakago as his eyes rolled back into his head, eyelids half-closing over tortured blue eyes. And then the shogun had begun to fall sideways, blonde hair fluttering like a banner around him. The image was far too priceless for him to forget. Nakago was far too easy to torture. The emperor of Konan allowed himself a small chuckle.

"Ah, my healer, you never cease to amaze me…the drugs worked faster than I would have thought," Hotohori whispered, staring at Nakago's unconscious body. He smiled to himself, dipping his chopsticks gracefully into a bowl of rice. "Now to begin the breaking of your soul, my treasure. Tamahome!"

In response, the doors slid open, the shadowed figure of the shogun of Konan standing in between the pale white doors. "Hai, heika?"

"Take him to our quarters," Hotohori ordered

"Hai, heika," Tamahome replied. He entered the room, speaking to Hotohori softly. "I have spoken to Kaen, heika. She is more than willing to serve him."

"Excellent," Hotohori told him. "Have the armor he wears transported to the room we requested for him."

During the course of the orders being handed out, Tamahome had approached the unconscious shogun, kneeling down and shifting him into his arms. The unconscious man weighed precious little now…almost as much as a woman might had she been decked out in armor. Tamahome managed a slight bow to Hotohori.

"As you command, heika," Tamahome said, voice barely above a whisper. He hurried off on his assigned mission, leaving Hotohori to finish his meal in silence. And, had anyone been in the room, they would have seen the sinister smile cross Hotohori's face once more.

__________

Kaen hurried along the hallway in silence, hiking her robes to a few inches above the ground in order to walk a bit faster. _When the emperor of Konan summoned you, it was not wise to delay_, Kaen thought bitterly as she found her way through the many twists and turns of the imperial palace.

Especially since he has destroyed your country.

Kaen frowned, keeping her sarcastic side in check. She had to, if she was to properly attend to the emperor. She couldn't show any sign of hatred or fear to him. Not to him. And on she walked, her footsteps making the only sound on the floor of the hallway. She stopped, spotting Konan's shogun, a man she only knew as Tamahome, standing outside a doorway, arms crossed over his chest. Upon hearing her footsteps, he turned his head to look at her, eyes narrowing slightly.

"You're late," Tamahome said, his voice the barest hint above a whisper. "Heika sent for you fifteen minutes ago."

Kaen glared at him through narrowed eyes that matched his own. It was _his_ gaze she was unafraid to match, _his_ eyes she was unafraid to meet. Not daring to raise the volume of her voice over his own, she snapped, "How would you know?"

"He sent the order through me," was the smug reply.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Tamahome did not move aside to permit her entry, but he did not block it, either. He uncrossed his arms, gently reaching one hand out to brush against Kaen's cheek. Kaen gasped, jerking backwards. She stumbled backwards a few paces.

"Kuso!" Kaen whispered, a hand covering the spot he had touched. She glanced back up at him, his eyes and his face both bearing an amused expression. "How…how dare you!"

"I dare because, as of this moment, I am the second most powerful man in Konan." There was no need for him to say who the first powerful was; Kaen knew it all ready. He was second to the emperor himself. "I did you a favor, bringing you to heika. I saved you from a death that you should have received, no matter what my personal preference to you."

"Go to hell," Kaen snapped. "If you think you can make me think that I'm indebted to you, you're wrong. I serve Kutou's shogun now. I'm not yours to do with as you please."

"You would be…once he is dead," Tamahome announced with a cryptic shrug. "As soon as that happens, you become mine once again. And I have the feeling that you will not have as much…fun with him as you did with me."

Kaen felt her eyebrows draw downwards in a v, eyes narrowing. She was glad to be rid of Tamahome now. He always thought that he could have his free reign of her whenever he felt like it. Now she had a new master…a master he had appointed her to himself. So why was he causing her this delay? With another amused look, Tamahome rapped once on the doorway, and opened it, giving Kaen a mock bow from the waist.

"Heika awaits," he told her.

Kaen wasted no time in sweeping past him and into the darkened room. The only light within came from a few candles set up around the room…all of which were perfumed with flower scents. Mixed scents of lilacs, roses, and other exotic flowers perfumed the air, giving one the impression that one was in a garden rather than someone's personal bedchamber. She heard the soft click of a door being closed behind her and she shook her head. If Tamahome was hoping to intimidate her, he had another thing coming. She squared her shoulders and forced her mind to focus on its assigned task.

"Heika?" she asked, searching the dimly lit room for a silhouette of the figure of the emperor.

"Here," his voice, which now sounded oddly silky and beautiful to her own ears, replied from another room.

Determining the direction the voice had come from, she turned towards it and entered a smaller sub-compartment. A chair had been pulled toward the bed and within it sat a man, but Kaen could not determine if this was the emperor or not. Then she became vaguely aware of another figure on the bed. Who else was in the room? The figure in the chair beckoned to her and, having no choice but to obey, Kaen did what she as told, moving closer to the figure in the chair. Upon closer inspection, it was the emperor himself who sat there, clad in a white sleeping robe which had slightly slipped open to reveal the barest hint of pale skin. Kaen quickly averted her eyes.

"You sent for me, heika?" she asked.

"Hai," he replied, his voice retaining the silky tones of before. "You see him?" He gestured to the bed. "That is your new charge."

Kaen took the opportunity to look at the man on the bed. His blonde hair had pooled around his face, creating a sort of halo around him. The eyes were closed, lips slightly parted to reveal two rows of perfect white teeth. The shirt seemed to be pressed against the broad chest, indicating armor that should have been there but wasn't. The eyes were closed, so Kaen could not be sure…but she thought she recognized this man. The hair…the shape of the face…perhaps she met him in Kutou. But this man looked like he was the shogun of Kutou. When would she have met him?

"His name is Nakago," the emperor continued, a thin smile on his face. "You might have seen him before in Kutou, Kaen. We believe he is---was Kutou's shogun."

That just confirmed for Kaen what she had thought. Looking at him now, he seemed so helpless…and slightly drunk. Kaen recognized the drunkenness well enough; Tamahome wore that look often enough. Perhaps it was a common trait of a soldier.

"Anou…heika-sama? If you…don't mind my asking…what is Nakago-dono doing on your bed?" Kaen asked, forcing the words out of her mouth. Why was she asking? What right did she have to know this?

"He…was not feeling well at dinner," the emperor said smoothly. Kaen chanced a look up at the emperor. The eyes had turned down at the corners, glinting in amusement, lips pursed delicately as they often did when he was thinking on the spot. Kaen smiled a bit; she recognized that look. He was lying. "We did not want him to walk all the way to his rooms in that state. Our quarters were closer."

"I…I see," Kaen replied, trying not to let on that she knew her emperor was lying. "I'll have men bring Nakago-dono to his room, heika."

"See that you do," he replied, smiling a bit.

Kaen hurried to the front door, sending an overly eager Tamahome off for two men to help her bring Nakago to his quarters. This done, she returned back to the inner part of the room to wait in silence with the emperor of Konan for the men to arrive.

__________

Nakago could not remember ever waking up with a hangover before, abstaining from alcohol whenever it had been offered to him. If he had not, however, he imagined that this was what it felt like. His head pounded furiously, and he found himself thinking back to dinner with the emperor of Konan…Hotohori. He had only touched a glass of tea the entire night. Nakago heard his mental voice groan. Somehow or other Hotohori had obtained drugs to put in it. That was the only logical explanation. Seiryuu only knew what Hotohori had done to him in that time!

He allowed himself a small auditory groan and slowly allowed his eyelids to open. The room decided to take its time about coming into focus. When it finally did, he found himself staring a painted ceiling through a thin, filmy canopy of red. A quick glance out of the corner of his eyes to both the left and the right revealed red paint with gold trim painted intricately around the walls. Beneath his hands he felt something that felt remotely like silk, but he highly doubted that was what he was resting upon. He sat up, moving as slow as possible so as not to disturb the throbbing feeling in his head.

And then he spotted something in a corner, all but hiding in the shadows. The something moved, indicating it was a person.

"Who's there?" Nakago snapped, his right hand flying to the spot where his sword usually rested only to find the hilt not there. It was then he noticed that he had been stripped of his armor, most of which he found resting against a chest of drawers against a wall.

All Nakago saw of the figure was a lithe silhouette clad in a robe, hair piled in an odd sort of "o" shaped design at the top of her head with the rest hanging down in a ponytail of sorts. As if making a decision, the person moved into the light. This, he saw, was a woman, eyes ice-cold, red-brown hair swept into an intricate design with a pure red ribbon trailing through her hair. The robe, he noticed, was diaphanous in nature, filmy and slightly transparent enough to reveal the features that lay beneath. Nakago felt his facial features draw together in disgust. Konan, apparently, had no decency left within it.

"Are you…feeling better, Nakago-dono?" she asked. She took long strides towards the bed, an attitude many men would call bold and improper. But what did a man know of a proper woman, Nakago chided himself, to make any such judgment? She stopped just short of the edge of the bed, meeting his gaze briefly. "Heika-sama said…you were not feeling well earlier."

"Who are you?" Nakago demanded, looking at her.

"My name is Kaen, Nakago-dono," she replied, eyes reluctantly gazing at her feet and not at his face. "I have been told that I am to serve you."

"Serve…me…?" Nakago asked, blinking in confusion. Hotohori would never order this for him…not unless… "Where am I?"

"Your bedroom, Nakago-dono. This room and the adjoining compartment belongs to you, as per heika-sama's orders."

Nakago frowned. Hotohori would never order this for him under any normal circumstances. The back corners of his mind knew what Hotohori wanted with him, threads similar to what the emperor of Kutou had wanted him for. He felt the headache slowly give way to nausea, a throbbing sensation pounding in the back of his mind as he felt most of the color drain from his face. He lowered himself back onto the bed again, fighting to retain what little composure he had left. Kaen jerked forward, intent on her duty.

"Are you all right, Nakago-dono?" she asked, her tone anxious. He did not dare answer her, fearing the loss of his composure or, worse, saying something he should not. When there was no answer, her voice sounded nervous as she spoke again. "I'll send for one of the healers…"

"No," Nakago managed to say, voice cracking into silence at intervals. "It will subside…"

Kaen frowned at him, beautiful eyes staring at him in disapproval. He gave her his best winning smile to reassure her. She smiled in response, sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing her legs. He saw how the robe she wore fell now…slightly open to expose her chest area and… Nakago forced himself to look at Kaen's eyes, keeping his eyes away from her chest. He wasn't that sort of a man to take advantage of a woman. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Kaen spoke again.

"Nakago-dono? Do you recognize me?" she asked.

Nakago blinked. What sort of a question was that? "Should I?"

There was the barest hint of disappointment in Kaen's eyes for a moment before she reined in on her emotions and spoke again. "I was…hoping you would. It was a very long time ago, Nakago-dono, so I'm not surprised you don't remember. There some men who were trying to assault me. You were returning from border patrol and…you stopped them."

As she spoke to him, the words triggered something in his memory. Yes, that was right. Part of his mind was only vaguely aware of a voice, female and considerably younger than the voice he was hearing now, shouting for help…male voices telling her not to scream as no one would hear her anyway...and anger. Overwhelming anger that threatened to tear him up now as it had then. He had acted on anger, he remembered, allowing that to rule him when he had intervened…and part of him could not remember what he had done. He had released his anger, remembering the men screaming in pain…but what had he done?

Nakago shuddered involuntarily. Kaen glanced over at him, eyes flooded with concern.

"Nakago-dono?" she asked.

He glanced up at her, eyes tired. "I remember you…vaguely…but I…"

She smiled down at him, leaning forward, daring to place a silken finger on his lips. "Ssssh. Forgive me, Nakago-dono, if I have overtaxed what strength you have."

Nakago opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it at her amused smile. He cast a miffed glare at her that only served to enhance her amusement. She moved off the bed, retreating to her corner. It was only after she had left that he relaxed, letting his head sink into his pillows.

So that was the way the Konan emperor wanted it to be: Nakago used as little more than a servant. It was degrading, admittedly. But if that was what it would take in order for him to aid in reclaiming Kutou as it should be, then so be it. If Seiryuu willed it…

And then there was a sense of pent up anger boiling to the surface in the back of his mind. _You hate your powers…you hate the emperor of Konan. Kill him. Kill him now. Claim your revenge._

Seiryuu willed he remained calm. It would be done. He stared up at the ceiling, mentally tracing the patterns above his head. Konan had enslaved Kutou; Kutou had fallen; he, the shogun of Kutou, was made a prisoner. He was also a Seiryuu no shichiseishi. Remembering that caused him to recall the legend of Seiryuu no miko; the legends had always said that a young maiden would come from another world when a nation was about to fall. The nation Nakago represented _had_ fallen! Where was Seiryuu no miko when the country needed her?

_She has forsaken you_, the voice in the back of his mind taunted him. _She has left you to die. She cares nothing for you._

As he lay there thinking these things, absently running over pointless facts in his mind, tracing the hidden patterns in the wood panels of the ceiling, he coherently thought one thing before he fell asleep once again.

We are alone.

…TBC…

**Notes:** Expect this to be a recurring theme at the end of a chapter. Chapter end, even more author's notes. Woo hoo! Okay. First off, as most of you probably noticed, I'm keeping with the Japanese version of the series. Hence the reason why you see "Seiryuu no miko" instead of "Priestess of Seiryuu". (_Miko_ doesn't mean _priestess_, though. I believe it translates out to _summoner_ or something like that.)

Now for the Japanese I used. Common words first!

A _shogun_ is a military commander, highest rank I believe you can obtain in the Japanese military. This term I only apply to Tamahome and Nakago at this point in the story. Tamahome's currently the shogun of Konan; Nakago's the shogun of Kutou. Or rather…he was before Kutou was destroyed.

_Heika_ is another common word I use, in conjunction with Hotohori. It means _your majesty_ or _his majesty._ (I've seen it as both.)

Most of the time, you will also see me tack _–sama_ onto the end of a title or a persons name. This is a term of respect, I THINK meaning something along the lines of _my lord_ or such. So any time you see _–sama_, think servant respecting master!

Nakago has _–dono_ tacked onto his name. This is the militaristic form of _–sama_, another term of respect. (Thank you, Dark Angel manga by Kia Asamiya! One of the characters has _–dono_ tacked onto his name.)

_Hai_ is another common one! That word just means yes.

_Oni_ is translated in the sentence it appears in. I've seen it translated as _ogre_ and _demon_, so I put them both there.

This is the end of the complicated Japanese rambling for the day. Okay…so…did you like? Flame? ::treads foot in circle on the floor:: Suggestions? Anything? Please?


	2. The Lady of the Legends

**Disclaimer:** Watase Yuu = goddess. Fushigi Yuugi = not mine. Fushigi Yuugi = Watase Yuu's. Me = pathetic fan fic writer hopelessly in love with Fushigi Yuugi.

**Warnings:** Strong language, angst, shonen-ai/yaoi implications, sexual innuendo…and…well…that pretty much covers it.

**Notes:** Lots of thanks for this chapter. One goes to Kim and Koishii-kun for beta reading this. I love the two of you so much! ::showers them with chocolate bunnies:: Next "thank you" shout-out goes to the fyfanfiction mailing list. A debate about the Seiryuu no shichiseishi, the Suzaku no shichiseishi, Konan, and Kutou was the inspiration for this fic. And a HUGE "thank you" goes to all you reviewers. You guys are just so awesome. ::huggles:: I actually respond to your reviews in the author's notes at the bottom of the chapter. I apologize for how long I take between chapters. But it actually takes a REALLY long time to write them because I have too many ideas at WAY too many different times. ^^

Do not be too startled by the random scene jump… Again, Japanese will be translated.

**REVERSAL  
  
Chapter Two:  
"The Lady of the Legends"  
The Page is Turned, the Legend Begins to Move**

"'I strive to do my best.' Who can translate that into Japanese for me?"

Yui frowned, watching her friend at the desk next to her. Miaka was asleep again, that much was apparent. Fortunately, she was not snoring loud enough to attract the attention of the teacher. Yet, anyway. She was surprised Miaka even managed to arrive at school on time what with all the studying that Miaka's mother was insisting she do.

"Anyone? Anyone at all?"

Had Yui not been extraordinarily bored out of her mind, she might have made an effort to quickly reach across the row of emptiness between their desks and given her brown-haired friend a quick whap on the arm to wake her up. At the risk of attracting the attention of their teacher, the blonde haired girl remained where she was, pretending to flip through the Japanese to English dictionary that all the students were equipped with. Other students were attempting, at least, to translate the words the teacher spoke.

After another moment of silence, the teacher sighed and looked up from the English text he held in his hand. "Kurowa-san, can you translate that?"

The student in question quickly glanced up from her text to meet the intense gaze of the teacher. Yui looked from student to teacher, frowning a bit. Such a translation was effortless for Yui herself, but she did not dare raise her hand for fear of getting singled out by the other students later. The student that the teacher had addressed simply shook her head. The teacher sighed again.

"Yuuki-san, what about you?"

At this, Yui's eyes grew as wide as saucers. That meant the teacher would notice that Miaka was asleep. Which, in turn, meant that Miaka would get into trouble with the teacher. Again. That would be the second time this week after Miaka had shown up without a research paper on a particular historical period. Any attempt at waking her up would be noticed by the teacher and then Yui might get in trouble. She glanced nervously at her fellow classmate, head pillowed on her arms on top of the open English textbook.

"Mmm…food," Miaka sleepily whispered.

Yui forced herself not to groan. _Miaka! You're going to give yourself away, baka!_

"What was that, Yuuki-san?" the teacher asked, eyes narrowing slightly as he moved from his position at the front of the room to slowly walk towards her desk.

"Mmm…rice balls…ice cream float…hamburger…ew, that's gross…no anchovies," Miaka's sleepy voice said again.

Yui covered her eyes with her hand, shaking her head as she did. If she were one of the anime characters in one of the mangas that she was fond of reading, she probably would have a rather large sweatdrop appearing to indicate her frustration right about now. Miaka was drawing far too much attention to herself. The teacher approached the desks, looking at Miaka, a frown on his chiseled facial features.

"Yuuki-san!" he said gruffly, shaking her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up.

"GIVE ME BACK MY FOOD!" Miaka shouted in response. In one swift motion, she stood, grabbing the sides of her desk with both hands. She raised it into the air, legs of the desk facing the ceiling and then swung it at the teacher; all of Miaka's books, papers, and pencils flew everywhere as she did so. Students nearby covered their heads with their hardcover English textbooks to prevent themselves from getting whacked with a renegade pencil or book. Yui found herself doing so, as well. When she dared to peek out from beneath the gibberish of English, she noticed that Miaka missed the teacher, but the teacher had apparently been rather startled and fell backwards, landing on his butt in the aisle between the desks. All the students were now staring at Miaka, Yui included. And then Yui saw Miaka's closed eyes.

_I don't believe it. The baka's still asleep…_

"Anou…Miaka-chan? Who did you just almost whack with that desk?" Yui asked, mouth and voice forming the words slowly in an attempt to fully wake up her friend.

The question did the trick. Miaka's eyes opened completely to stare at the prone figure on the floor. Her eyes widened upon seeing who it was.

"Sen…sei?" Miaka exclaimed in disbelief.

"Bingo," Yui replied, the barest hint of a smile crossing her face.

If it was at all possible, Miaka's eyes grew even wider. "G—gomen! Gomen nasai!" she hurried to say, slowly putting the desk down with nervous laughter. Yui sighed. It was times like these when Yui truly wondered how she and Miaka were friends. After all, Miaka could be a bit dense when she wanted to be.

The teacher slowly climbed to his feet, fixing Miaka with a hard stare. All the students gulped. This was going to be harsh.

"Yuuki-san! That's it!" the teacher roared. Miaka gulped, shrinking back and tripping over the chair. Both she and the chair clattered to the floor as the teacher continued, oblivious. "If you do not want to learn what I have to teach, you can teach yourself. I want you to complete pages 64-81 in your English book by this time at the end of the week. Your grade in this subject will depend mostly on your completion of that assignment. I will not have you disrupting my class any further. Into the hall!" He pointed in the direction of the sliding doors.

"Hai, sensei," Miaka replied softly, slowly walking out into the hallway.

The teacher moved back towards the front of the room. When he got to his podium, he turned around to fix the entire room with a glare that even Yui shrank away from. "I hope that taught you all a lesson."

The room was silent.

"Well," the teacher stated, mollified, "that settles it. Now…once again. 'I strive to do my best.' Who can translate that?" He glanced around the room, trying to choose a student that he probably felt was at least making the effort to pay attention. Yui kept her head down. "Hongo-san, how about you?"

Yui glanced up upon hearing her name called, quickly running a mental English dictionary in her brain and conjugating the correct verbs to come up with the final answer. And then her eyes widened, realizing she had written it on the top of a notebook page of doodles of the teacher in demon-form, waving a pointer-turned pitchfork.

So much for being the studious one…

__________

Miaka rubbed the back of her head where it had collided with both the chair and the floor, staring at Yui sitting next to her on the train car. "Why does Sugara-sensei have to be so mean, Yui-chan? All that extra English work he gave me to do is going to be a real pain!"

Yui smiled, glancing up from the book she was reading. "Well, its your own fault for falling asleep in class."

"I wouldn't have if mom wasn't so pushy about studying all the time.." Miaka grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and slumping down in her seat on the train car. This action was accompanied by a trademark Miaka-pout when she didn't get her way.

"Your mother just wants to make sure you go to a good high school, ne?" Yui asked, trying to cheer her friend up. "Besides, you have to keep your grades up if you want to go to Yotsubadai High School with the other girls."

Miaka shook her head. "Nope! I didn't tell you? I'm taking the Jonan Academy exams."

"Jonan?!" Yui exclaimed, looking at her friend in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me you were studying to take those? Those are so HARD!"

"You're taking them, aren't you?" Miaka asked curiously. "Besides, we promised we'd go to the same high school together, remember? We _promised_."

Yui laughed. "All right. All right. We promised." Yui paused before she said anything else. Was Miaka only attempting the Jonan exams because Yui was? Or was there an ulterior motive to this new announcement? Either way, the words sprang to her lips unbidden. "Demo…Miaka-chan…are you sure that's what you want?"

"Hai!" Miaka replied, nodding enthusiastically. "I want to be with you!"

Yui smiled, shaking her head at her friend's naiveté for a moment before returning to her book. There was a moment of silence between the two girls.

"Ne…Yui-chan?"

"Hai?"

"Do you think you could help me with the English assignment?" Miaka's voice pleaded. When next she spoke, everything came out in a liquid rush, almost impossible to decipher. "I mean, you're so good at it and all and you'll be able to help me easily and Sugara-sensei won't notice at all! Besides, you're my friend and…"

Yui glanced over at Miaka, who had paused to take a breath, and clamped her hand over Miaka's mouth. "Stop. I'll help you all ready."

"Yay!" Miaka exclaimed, forgetting she was on a train. She jumped up onto her train seat and began to jump up and down, clapping her hands excitedly. "Yay yay yay yay yay yay…WHOA!" At that moment, the train lurched to a stop, causing Miaka to go flying forward onto the floor of the train. Yui shook her head.

Unbelievable… 

Yui stood, sticking her book in a pocket of her trench coat and moved towards the opening door of the train. Miaka quickly picked herself up off the floor and raced after her.

"Ne, Yui-chan! Where're we going?"

"National Library," Yui replied, smiling. "We'll need a quiet place to work on your English, after all, right?"

"Hai!" Miaka agreed, latching onto Yui's arm. "I'm so glad you're my friend, Yui-chan!" Unfortunately, this action prompted several stares from the rest of the people in the train compartment. If people had not been staring before, they most certainly were now. Yui felt herself blush as she tried to pry herself away from Miaka.

"Will you stop it, baka? People are staring!" Yui exclaimed.

"Ooops!" Miaka giggled, releasing Yui's arm. "Gomen, Yui-chan!"

Yui sighed and exited the train car, Miaka following excitedly after her.

"Ne, Yui-chan! Do you think we could stop off and get something to eat first?" Miaka asked, all but bouncing after Yui. "I'm really hungry!"

Yui hid a smile behind her hand. "Sure. Don't see why not."

"YAY!"

__________

"Yui-chan? What's a California?" Miaka asked, glancing up at the blonde girl across the table from her. Yui had a notebook open and was furiously scribbling notes from an open library book at her right.

"Huh?" Yui wondered, glancing up from her writing.

"What's a California," Miaka repeated, looking as serious as ever.

Yui blinked, mentally praying she had heard the girl wrong. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She had to calm herself down if she was actually dealing with this question. Unfortunately…she didn't do a very good job.

"What do you mean, 'What's a California?'" Yui demanded, eyes snapping open. "It's a state in the United States!"

Miaka gave her a blank look. "What's a state?"

Yui sighed. "I could have _sworn_ you actually paid attention in geography."

Miaka shook her head, eyes closed as she did so. Yui sighed again, opening her mouth to speak and explain what a state was to her friend.

"A state is----" Yui started. She was cut off by a very loud roaring noise. She froze, staring at a space to Miaka's right. The spot that should have been a stack of books suddenly wasn't. Instead of seeing metal bookshelves, what she saw was apparently once a city. Most of the buildings had been burned to the ground, newly formed clouds of smoke curling up from the ashes of the fallen city. Hovering above the ashes was…something…blue. Whatever it was appeared to be surrounded in sky blue light. Yui squinted, trying to get a clearer look at what it was and failing miserably. Suddenly, a pale hand passed in front of her eyes, waving frantically back and forth.

"Ne, Yui-chan? Daijoubu?" Miaka's voice asked, yanking Yui out of her reverie. Yui blinked and looked again. The bookshelves were back in their proper place now. No fallen city. No blue light. Nothing. "What were you looking at?"

"I…" Yui started, looking at her friend and seeing nothing but confusion written all over her face. "Nothing. I just…for a minute I thought I saw…" She sighed. How was she supposed to explain what she had just seen? "Never mind."

"You sure?" Miaka asked, eyes flashing in concern.

"Hai," Yui replied, forcing a smile. "I'm fine. Really."

Miaka smiled in response. She opened her mouth, apparently about to say something. Both girls froze, however, upon hearing something that sounded like a clicking noise and the creaking of old hinges. They looked at each other, then Miaka slowly turned in her seat to look through the bookshelves. The area directly to Miaka's right led to a door…that was slowly swinging open of its own accord. The two girls looked at each other, eyes wide. Without another word, Yui got up from her seat and made her way down the shelves to the opening door. A scraping of wood on the floor told Yui that Miaka was doing the same.

"Yui-chan!" her voice hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing where that door goes, of course," Yui replied, not changing her pace or direction at all.

"But…but Yui-chan! That sign says its 'Employees Only'! We're not supposed to go back here!" Miaka protested. Yui stopped, turning slowly to look at her friend. Was this really coming out of Miaka's mouth?

"This is coming from the girl that constantly falls asleep in class?" Yui asked, watching her for a reaction. Failing to get one, she plunged ahead in her persuasion. "Come on, Miaka. Its just a room." To prove her point, Yui turned around and read the sign over the door. "'Important Documents Reference Room.' See? Aren't you in the least bit curious as to what all these 'important documents' are?"

Miaka frowned in a moment of intense debate. Without warning, Miaka dove past Yui and into the darkened room, fumbling for a light switch. Yui followed her, looking this way and that before she entered the room. Lights flickered on in the room as Yui closed the door. Once the lights hit the room, Yui's eyes widened. The room was filled with rows and rows of old books. Some of which Yui recognized as very antique books.

"Whoa…Miaka! Look at all these things!" Yui exclaimed, going over to a shelf and inspecting the spine of one of the ancient volumes. She pulled the book off the shelf, hunting for a copyright date alongside the title page. "This one was printed in 1961. That's pretty old…"

Miaka had joined her friend at the shelf, diligently reading the spines of the old books as Yui put hers back. "I've never heard of half of these."

"Neither have I," Yui agreed, returning to her shelf.

A thud resounded easily in the small room. Determining that it had come behind her, Yui glanced over at Miaka to see if she had heard it. Miaka did not seem to, reading the names of the books she found aloud and occasionally fumbling over the odd sounds of words long forgotten. Yui sighed, turning around. On the floor, practically by her feet, was a book with a red cover and white paper binding. She bent down to pick up the book, studying it. The title and author had been embossed on the book's front cover.

"The Universe of the Four Gods," Yui whispered, reading what was written on the cover. That was the important thing, she realized. Perhaps that was why the title looked like it was bold… "Ne! Miaka!"

Miaka stopped her reading and hurried over to Yui, eyes widening upon seeing the book in Yui's hands. "Yui-chan? What _is_ that?"

"The Universe of the Four Gods," Yui replied, opening the book. She sat on the floor, setting the book in front of her. Miaka joined her on the floor, positioning the book so they could both read it.

"The Universe of the Four Gods?" Miaka echoed curiously. "What's that?"

Yui nodded. "It looks like its some ancient Chinese novel." Attempting to recall her knowledge of the Chinese language, Yui began to translate, "Thus the girl of the legend opened the door to another world.'"

"Wow!" Miaka exclaimed, looking at Yui. "You can read Chinese!" As Yui continued to work at the translation, Miaka's voice interrupted her. "Ne! Yui-chan! Look at this picture!"

Yui glanced over. Miaka's finger was pressed onto one of the ancient pages over an ink drawing. Sure now that Miaka held Yui's attention, Miaka removed her hands from the picture. Yui's eyes widened. On the page, was an image of a ruined city. Light trails of ink had been made to indicate smoke trails that curled up to the sky. And over the city…

"I…I don't believe this…" Yui whispered. She recognized it. "I…I saw this before!"

"What's this flying lizard?" Miaka asked, pointing to the thing that was hovering over the city. Yui picked up the book to study the image.

"That's not a lizard," Yui scolded, still slightly startled. "That looks like a dragon."

Miaka took the book from Yui and looked at it. "Dragon or not, I still say it's a lizard." Miaka set the book back onto the floor so Yui could continue to read. Yui forced herself to ignore the image of the ruined city on the next page as she continued to read.

"'This is a story of the young lady who gathered the seven seishi of Seiryuu,'" Yui started.

"What's a Seiryuu?" Miaka interrupted.

"The dragon, I guess," Yui replied. She found her place again and continued to read. "'She obtained omnipotent power and made every wish come true. The story itself is an incantation. Whomsoever finishes reading it shall receive this power. As soon as the page is turned, the story will become the truth and begin.'"

"So, wait a second. You finish reading the book and you get wishes?" Miaka demanded.

"I guess so," Yui replied.

Miaka eyes narrowed, skeptical of what the book said. "That's ridiculous. You get whatever you want just from reading a book?"

Yui nodded. "I guess so. Pretty silly, huh?"

"Tell me about it," Miaka agreed. She scoffed a bit as she looked at the book. "Wishes. Yeah right. And I'm the pope in Rome."

The two girls stared at the last bit of kanji on the book in silence for a minute. Part of Yui desperately wanted the legend told of in the book to be true. If it was, then maybe Yui would be able to save the ruined city. Why did it bother her so much? The part of her that wanted to save the city felt as though she had failed the people there, and she was not sure why.

"Still…" Miaka said, breaking the silence, "wouldn't it be cool if you actually got wishes?"

Yui nodded in agreement, attempting to take her mind off of the feeling of sorrow. "Even if the bit about the wishes isn't true, the story might be fun to read. Think we should?"

"Hai haaaaaaaiiiiiii!" Miaka replied enthusiastically.

Yui smiled at her friend, reaching her hand out slowly to secure the edge of the page in her hand. She took a deep breath, slowly turning the page. The moment her hand released the page, the book began to glow with an unearthly blue light, growing brighter and brighter, enveloping the room. Yui heard Miaka scream as Yui shielded her eyes with her arm in a vain attempt to block out the brightness of the blue light. The blue slowly turned into a bright white…and then suddenly it was no longer there.

Yui lowered her arm from her eyes. A quick glance to her right showed Miaka with her hands over her eyes, cowering a bit. Yui sighed and looked around. They were standing in the middle of some sort of garden, tall trees and exotic flowers painting the area around them in lush greens, purples, blues, yellows, and reds. There was a sound of rushing water behind her somewhere, most likely a fountain, and the enthusiastic, angry, chirping of birds, telling the human invaders to leave their home so they could feed in peace. Over the trees, she could make out the top of a building, but she was not entirely sure what it was. Yui could not recall ever feeling more out of place in any particular environment before. However, she wouldn't let that show now of all times.

"You can lower your hands now, Miaka. The light's gone," Yui announced.

Miaka lowered her hands from her eyes and looked around. After a minute of examining the scenery, her eyes widened in delight and she clasped her hands in front of her. "Wow! Look at this place, Yui-chan! Its so pretty!"

Yui nodded absently, not entirely focused on Miaka's antics. Her friend was now skipping around the pavilion, sniffing at all the exotic flowers and commenting on how pretty they were. Had the situation been different, Yui might have joined her. It was a bit unsettling, however, to just be thrust out of an familiar environment and into an unfamiliar one such as this.

_Where are we?_ Yui wondered, taking in the surroundings again. _And, wherever we are…can we get back to the National Library?_

A rustling of bushes behind her startled her enough to allow a small yelp escape her lips. She spun, facing the bushes, and jumping backwards, uncertain. Miaka stopped in her rambling and turned to look at Yui. She darted across the pavilion to her friend, hiding behind her, hands barely visible over Yui's left shoulder. Yui glanced over her shoulder at Miaka, frowning a bit as she returned her gaze to the bushes.

"He…hello?" Yui asked, voice stumbling over the familiar word. Mentally, she cursed herself for showing any sign of fear. She was as scared as Miaka and had been fighting to keep that fact hidden. Now, her own voice had betrayed her.

No response met her question. Yui frowned…and then her eyes widened as a figure emerged from the foliage. It was a man with blond hair, covered in robes of white and blue. His head was lowered towards the ground, making it impossible to discern his eye color. Clasped in front of him between his very feminine looking hands were multiple blooms of flowers, most of which Yui recognized from around the garden pavilion. From what Yui could see of his eyes, they widened slightly upon seeing her shoes. Slowly, very slowly, he raised his head and eyes to look at her. Yui was expecting a cold hard stare from him. Instead, what she was receiving was sadness conveyed in those blue eyes mixed with surprise.

"Wha…what are you doing here?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Miaka peeked around Yui's shoulder. Seeing the man there with the flowers softened the situation enough for Miaka to emerge from her hiding place.

"Konnichiwa!" Miaka exclaimed with a smile, taking a step closer to him. Yui was frozen to the spot, watching him watch Miaka. "Those are really pretty flowers. Who are they for? Your girlfriend? Do you think I could see----" She reached a hand towards the flowers…her hand coming dangerously close to his. Without warning, he jerked away, lifting the bouquet out of her reach and pulling to the side.

"Please…" he begged. "Please, do not…" He was trembling now. The action confused Yui. A man that looked like him trembling in----what was that emotion? Fear? Confusion?----because of a girl half his age? It made no sense. "Do not do that."

"Do what?" Miaka asked, oblivious. "I just wanted to see the flowers…" She glanced back at Yui. "What's wrong with wanting to see the flowers?"

Yui ignored her, taking a step closer to the man. Something about him drew her towards him, but she was not quite sure what. Perhaps it was the way he was looking at the two of them with almost childlike fear. Or perhaps it was the look in his eyes that Yui recognized all to well. It was a look that cried out for release, to be saved from whatever hell he was trapped in. Part of her wanted to assure him that everything was all right, to hug him. Maternal instincts, she realized.

"Its all right," Yui heard herself say as she took another step closer to him. This time, he did not pull away, merely turned his frightened eyes to her. "We don't want to hurt you. We got…lost…showed up here by accident. We just want to know how to get out of here. Can you help us?" Instead of a verbal response, he just shook his head, averting his eyes. "Why not?"

Hesitantly, he licked his dry lips before giving a response. "I'm…not permitted. I'm bound to the palace and the gardens. That is as far as I can go."

"Can you at least tell us which way to go?" Yui asked, trying not to sound exasperated.

"Its punishable by death…" he responded. "I cannot."

"What the hell is _with_ this place?!" Yui exclaimed in annoyance, voicing her opinion to both the man and Miaka. Her raised voice caused the look of fear on his face to grow even more and he made various motions to keep her quiet, motions Yui ignored. Miaka just nodded in agreement. "We just want to go _home_! Is that so wrong?! Why can't you just tell us----"

"Nakago!" a new male voice shouted, cutting Yui off.

The man in front of them flinched, hearing the name or word shouted loudly. Miaka blinked, looking over at Yui.

"What's a Nakago?" Miaka asked, scratching her head. "This place has too many unfamiliar words in it."

Yui sighed. Sometimes Miaka was just too much. The man in front of them glanced nervously in the direction he had come, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. He turned to the two girls, concern reflected in his blue eyes. With a free hand, he  brushed a renegade strand of blond hair behind his shoulder as he spoke to them.

"Go. Get out of here," he ordered, his voice soft. "I don't care how…just go…go before the shogun finds you."

"Shogun?" Yui and Miaka asked as one.

_Come to think of it,_ Yui thought to herself as she and Miaka stared at the man before them in confusion, _he did mention something about him being confined to the palace…where are we for palaces and shoguns to still exist?_

Before either of the girls could make a move to leave, another man emerged from the bushes that the blond had arrived through mere seconds before. He was a bit taller than then blond man, perhaps by no more than a few centimeters. His clothes, or what the girls could see of them through the armor and cloak he had wrapped around his shoulders, appeared simple. His hair was blue, eyes a color of purple-gray that came just before a storm. His eyes were not soft or fearful as the first man's had been; they were cold and hard, staring at the girls imperiously. Miaka clung to Yui's jacket sleeve, but both girls could not deny that they were both attracted to and repulsed by the man at the same time.

This had to the be shogun the blond had mentioned.

He completely ignored the girls at first, turning his attention to the blond. The blue eyes did not meet the grayish ones; instead, they stared at the ground in front of him.

"Nakago. Heika-sama would not approve of you wandering off like that," the shogun snapped, glaring at him. "How dare you disappear without telling me."

"Gomen nasai," the blond, presumably Nakago, responded, voice barely above a whisper. "I thought I heard something. I would have told you, but you were engaged in conversation with----"

Yui barely had time to blink before she saw the back of an armored hand raise and swing towards Nakago's exposed cheek. Armor, skin, and bone connected, a loud smacking noise raising into the morning air. The two girls could only stand helplessly by as Nakago's posture faltered, reflexively covering the spot that the shogun's armor had made contact with along the side of his mouth. After a moment, he withdrew his hand to reveal droplets of red glistening on his pale palm. Yui thought she had seen anger and hatred in his eyes for a moment before it dissolved into the submissive look of before.

"Did I say you could talk back to me?" the shogun demanded of Nakago, glaring at him. Nakago offered no verbal response, just stared at the ground by the shogun's feet. "Answer me!" he ordered, raising his hand again.

Nakago's free hand lowered to his side, clenching it in a barely visible fist. Yui's eyes widened slightly. He might be acting submissive, but he hated this man. He really and truly hated him.

"No," Nakago replied, closing his eyes, mentally preparing himself for another blow of the hand. "No, you didn't."

The answer seemed to satisfy the shogun. He lowered his hand and turned, only to spot Miaka and Yui standing in the pavilion with him. The shogun's eyes narrowed, staring at them, Nakago apparently forgotten for the time being. He took a step towards the girls. Miaka backed up, dragging Yui with her as her hands were still firmly latched around Yui's coat sleeve.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" he demanded, never letting up on the glare.

"We…we just…" Yui tried to say. Miaka, however, beat her to it.

"There was this _really_ bright blue light and…and then the library was gone and we were here!" Miaka exclaimed, looking at the shogun in fear. "We didn't know we were trespassing or anything! Honest we didn't!"

His eyes narrowed even more, glancing from the girls to Nakago. Nakago's eyes were wide hearing this new information, but feeling the shogun's eyes on him caused him to avert his eyes and look down at the ground again.

"Blue light, huh?" the shogun asked, eyeing the two girls skeptically. "I don't take kindly to demons and liars walking through the imperial palace's gardens."

"We're not demons! Honest!" Miaka protested, voice raising an octave in pitch as her fear rose.

"We're telling the truth!" Yui chimed in, backing into Miaka. "Honestly we are!"

"Tamahome-dono," Nakago's voice piped up. The shogun slowly turned to look at him, eyes wide in disbelief. "Please…leave them be. They're just girls. How could they cause any harm?" He took a step forward, holding his bouquet of flowers in front of him as a sort of shield. Almost absently, he took a ribbon from a pocket of his robes and began to tie the flowers together neatly. "Heika-sama did request these flowers as quickly as possible, did he not?"

"Odd…I don't _recall_ giving you permission to speak," the shogun---Tamahome, Yui supposed---snarled, glaring at Nakago. He advanced on Nakago, eying him. "You're out of line. I don't like it when property is out of line."

Nakago had apparently not anticipated this action, judging from his wide eyes. He stumbled backwards, tripping over a loose stone and falling unceremoniously backwards to the ground. He managed to catch himself on his hands in time to prevent his head from hitting the ground. The small group of flowers had fallen from his hand and landed safely by his side; not a single petal had fallen from any blossoms within. Yui had no time to be impressed, however. Tamahome took his time about crouching by Nakago, pinning his hands and jerking him into a sitting position. The look in Tamahome's eyes was hungry…some sort of animalistic desire Yui had seen in a program on television once. Miaka gasped, seeing the look.

"Leave him alone!" Yui shouted. It was all well and good to shout at him, but she physically could do nothing.

Miaka, on the other hand, dove forward, grabbing Tamahome's arms. "Leggo!" she shouted, trying to pry his hands off of Nakago's.

Tamahome broke away from Nakago, twisting his upper body to push Miaka to the stones behind her. She gasped in pain as he pinned her hands by her head, then adjusted himself so he was lying on top of her. Miaka could feel his warm breath against her face. She closed her eyes, turning her head to the side, not wanting to look at him. She felt her eyes open as Tamahome brought both hands above her head, holding them there with one of his hands and moving his newly free hand towards her vest directly above her breasts. He cupped one of the clothed breasts in his free hand, stroking it slowly.

"Let her GO!" Yui shouted. She ran forward, pouncing upon Tamahome's back, hands latching firmly onto his shoulders. Angrily, she pulled back, trying to force him off. Tamahome didn't even bother to look back at her. He took his hand off of Miaka's breast, grabbed one of Yui's arms, and calmly flung her off. She went flying, skidding across the ground, hearing the slow but undeniable ripping of cloth.

"Yui-chan!" Miaka screamed, trying to kick Tamahome and failing miserably. "Help me!"

Yui pushed herself to her feet again, determined to try again. A flash of blue distracted her. She glanced over at Nakago, who had gotten to his feet. His hands were clenched into fists, taut with anger, eyebrows slanting downwards towards his nose over his closed eyes. On his forehead was the Chinese character for the word "heart", glowing a bright blue. Nakago was looking more enraged by the minute. His eyes snapped open; Yui could have sworn there was a fleeting blue aura around him.

"Bastard," Nakago forced out of his mouth, raising one hand, aiming it at Tamahome. There was a bright flash of blue light from his palm, a circular bubble of energy that released from his palm and slamming into Tamahome. As the shogun went flying, Nakago lowered his hand, looking right at Tamahome who had slammed right into a tree. "How dare you touch a woman like that." He turned to Miaka, looking considerably calmer than he had been when they first met him. "Are you all right?"

"H…hai!" Miaka exclaimed, scrambling to her feet.

Yui's eyes widened. She had never seen anything like that before. Tamahome pried himself off of the tree and stormed over to the two of them, shouting for…something, Yui wasn't entirely sure what. Nakago moved protectively between Yui and Miaka. All Yui saw was flashes of spear points mixing into a brighter light…

__________

Miaka blinked, waiting for the spots to clear from her eyes. Once they did, she turned to look at the spot where Yui had been only moments before.

"Ne, Yui-chan, that was a wild dream, wasn't it?" she asked. And then she stopped.

She was back in the Important Documents Reference Room, the book still open on the floor where they had left it. And yet there was no sign of Yui. Confused, Miaka began to look between the book stacks, hunting for her friend. Not finding her, Miaka returned to the book, bending down to pick it up, close it, and stuff it into the first available spot on the shelf she could find. Then she focused on the text.

_Frightened, but filled with concern for her friend, the young lady lunged at the shogun of Konan. He effortlessly threw her off. The young man they had met earlier raised his hand, emitting a burst of blue light from his hands. It was revealed that he had the character for "heart" written in blue on his forehead…_

"Kokoro?" Miaka asked, looking at the book. "What the…why is everything from my dream written here?"

She glanced at the picture on the side. A girl stood there, her hair short, with a very familiar looking man beside her. Miaka frowned, looking at the picture more closely.

"Yui-chan? Are you here? Inside the book?" Miaka wondered. She walked to the back of the room and sat up against the wall, propping the book on her knees to read it.

_The shogun shouted for his soldiers to come and arrest the young lady. The emperor of Konan would decide what to do with her._

"Oh…Yui-chan…"

__________

Yui had no idea what to think as the light died down to reveal spear tips that glistened in the light. While the light had brightened, Nakago had taken a step away from her to reclaim his bouquet before rejoining her once again. Tamahome was glaring at them from behind his protective row of soldiers.

"One of you escort the _slave_," Tamahome ordered, speaking the word "slave" as if it was the dirtiest word in his vocabulary, "to heika-sama. He is expecting his new toy. I have the prisoner to attend to."

One of the soldiers moved forwards to place a hand on Nakago's arm and roughly began to pull him away. Nakago cast a glance over his shoulder at Yui before he was jerked onwards towards the palace grounds. Tamahome left his protective ring of soldiers to advance upon Yui. She gasped and backed up, but soon found she had nowhere to back up to as the soldiers had begun to swing in behind her. Tamahome took her chin in his hand and tilted her face upwards. Too scared to fight back, she stared into his cold eyes, nervous and intrigued at the same time.

"Now…as for you," Tamahome began, looking at her. "You're quite exotic looking. I'm sure heika-sama would enjoy a new collection piece. I would consider it an honor to escort you…personally."

Yui stared at him defiantly, not having much else to do. It would seem that she would get the opportunity to see the emperor that Nakago had been sent to much sooner than she had thought. Of course, judging from the hungry look that was still in Tamahome's eyes, she was now not so sure that this was a good thing.

…TBC…

**Notes:** I apologize for how long this took…I didn't mean for this chapter to take this long! Honest! Okay…random Japanese first.

_-san_ just means "Miss" or "Mister", depending on who it is being said to. _Baka_ is one of my favorites. It means "idiot". _Anou_ is a verbal pause, much like our "um…" and "uh…" _-chan_ is typically only used in reference to females. This is only used when speaking a girl your own age. _Sensei_ means teacher. _Demo_ means "but". _Hai_, again, means yes. _Ne_ means "hey", I believe. _Gomen_ and/or _gomen nasai_ means "I'm sorry". I've also seen this as "I'm very sorry." _Daijoubu_ means "all right." I use it here to mean "are you all right?" or "are you okay?". Konnichiwa means "hello". A _shogun_ again is a general. _Kokoro_ means heart. _–dono_ is a term of respect typically in use with the military (see _–sama_ for further explanation). And _–sama_ is a term of respect (think "Master" or "my lord").

Next up? Author's comments on reviews thus far. Note: I won't do this every chapter, but I wanted to say a few things…

A lot of people seemed to want the next chapter… Well…I'm _so_ sorry this too so long…I didn't mean for it to!

**Kim C.:**  No Nuriko in here. He'll show up next chapter, I promise. I'm _still_ not sure how I'm changing him personality-wise. Everyone else is so easy to change with their personality except for HIM! ::dies::

**Koishii-kun:** Leggo of my tail! You have been the first to give me hugs on this chapter. I haven't forgotten your challenge, silly. I'm just…not very good with drawing the cast… And I'm quite glad you think my writing is "awesome." Twists and angst will basically make up the majority of this fic. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

**Queen of Darkness and Mustard (a.k.a. Kat):** Why is it the first three people who reviewed this fic have "K" names?? Yes, I know its you. And I won't forget to continue it. Next chapter is here! Wheee!

**Athena:** First of all, I want to say something to you. I have read a lot of your fics and I'm in love with your writing style. My personal favorite, at the moment, is "Star of Destiny." When are you going to write more??? Now on to your actual review. There WILL be angst-romance of yaoi. ^^ I just haven't gotten to it yet. I started off with "Nakago-torture" because I had to introduce the idea that everything has been completely changed around. Kaen/Soi will…complicate matters, but she WILL NOT destroy my plans. ^^ I will try my best to keep the Hotohori/Nakago thing going. I'm starting to like it. ^^

**faerie_X:** Well, you got your wish about the mikos. I've left their original personalities pretty much intact. Evil Hotohori amused you, huh? ::blinks:: I'm not sure HOW he managed that one… Nakago is so much fun to write as I have him now. ^^ And I guess we just have to wait and see about Nakago getting out of his "predicament"… he most certainly hasn't, yet.

**fallen:** I apologize for the confusion. Hope the scene jump at the beginning didn't confuse you too much. ::wince:: At least it eventually made sense, ne? I was quite scared a lot of people wouldn't find it making sense.

**Hotaru:** ::hug:: I'm sorry about there not being any more chapters at the time you made your review, hun. But here's the second chapter! Does that help to slightly appease you? ::hopes it does:: Anyhow…again, I will try my best to keep it Hotohori/Nakago. Soi is NOT going to screw up my plans. (You hear me, Soi? Don't screw anything up.)

Now that we've gotten this far… The next chapter should take…just about as long to come out as this one did. ::sweatdrop:: Sorry…

"Please leave a contribution in the little box." (in other words…review please!) If anyone can guess where that line is from, I'll give you a chocolate bunny! In this case, the chocolate bunny could either mean a cyber chocolate bunny or, in my warped mind, a segment from the next chapter for you to munch on. You can take your pick.


	3. The Maiden of Seiryuu

**Disclaimer:** See that? ::points to a colorful banner that reads, "DF does not own Fushigi Yuugi.":: You do? Good. Don't sue me, please. ::puppy dog eyes::

**Warnings:** Strong language, angst, shonen-ai/yaoi implications, sexual innuendo…and…well…that pretty much covers it.

**Notes:** Again, a great big shout-out of thanks to Kim C. and Koishii-kun, my beta readers. How you guys put up with me constantly running into writers block is beyond me. Congratulations to Divine Filth and Jess-chan for guessing the quote at the end of the last chapter. Well, after many rewrites, and losing the chapter entirely, I have finally finished the chapter. Go me.

In an attempt to create some sort of inspiration to get over my writer's block, I decided that I needed music! Yes, no story is complete without a soundtrack of sorts. So I went through my music and decided that B'z would be my theme music pieces! "Be there" is the opening theme and "Ai no mama Ni" is the closing theme. ^^ Thank you, Koishii-kun, for getting me addicted to them!

**REVERSAL  
  
Chapter Three:  
"The Maiden of Seiryuu"  
The Legend Continues**

Yui had often seen pictures of palaces before. There was one in Tokyo; naturally, she had never been inside it. The hallways she was taken through seemed a bit more simplistic than she had imagined, no matter how many colors and patterns were used. She was not sure what she had been expecting, but the odd simplicity of the halls that were accented on occasion by weaponry was most certainly not it.

Tamahome walked ahead of her, soldiers armed with spears on either side of her. She did not dare try to break away from them. She had already attempted this once before. Tamahome's military had excellent peripheral vision and both soldiers had moved to block her only way of escape before she had completely turned around and had a chance to blink. As for Tamahome, he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, always acting as though he was one step ahead of her. He also seemed to be quite adept in frightening people without even looking at them, considering the causal tone of voice when he had told her that he would impale her if she attempted to run again. She had never heard that tone of voice use that much menace before.

They continued to walk until they came to a set of closed doors. As they slowed to a stop, Yui peered around Tamahome's arm to see that the doors were made entirely out of gold that glinted in the torchlight, an emblem of some sort of bird engraved into the doorway and spread out over both doors. Two more warriors armed with spears stood at attention on either side of the doorway. They seemed to grow taller as they straightened even more upon seeing Tamahome.

"Sir!" they exclaimed as one.

"I must speak to heika-sama," Tamahome told them. "Open the doors."

The two soldiers looked at each other, locked in a moment of silent debate before turning their faces to look at Tamahome again.

"We are…sorry, shogun-sama," the one on Yui's left said, voice trembling a bit, "but heika-sama said that he did not want to be disturbed."

Yui felt herself smirk involuntarily and her arms cross over her chest. That was that, then. How exactly would Tamahome deal with this? Seeing the shogun before her bring his hand to the hilt of the sword he wore around his waist made Yui's eyes widen. That was not an option she had been considering. After all, Tamahome wasn't the type to kill his own men, was he?

"You _will_ allow me to see heika-sama for two reasons," Tamahome snapped, voice lowering dangerously. His voice was no louder than a low, almost guttural growl, and yet everything he said was enunciated clearly, daring the two men in front of him to disobey. "One: I am your superior officer and I trained you to follow my orders. Two: I am a Suzaku no shichiseishi, which gives me equal social status with heika-sama."

Yui felt her head jerk towards Tamahome, eyes becoming as big as saucers as she focused on the man in armor near her. His eyes were narrowed, deadly serious. She slowly turned her head to look back at the guards at the doors. The guards had apparently been convinced more by the threat of the sword than by his words and were moving towards the doors to slowly push them open. Yui turned to look at Tamahome again. He had said that he was a Suzaku no shichiseishi…but the book had only mentioned Seiryuu no shichiseishi in the prologue, not anything about seishi of Suzaku. So…if Seiryuu was a dragon…

_"What's a Suzaku?"_ Miaka would have asked had she been there.

_That's another question I have to answer,_ Yui thought as her mind focused on an image of Miaka with her purely innocent smile upon her face. _What happened to Miaka?_

As a scraping noise filled her ears, she turned to look at the doors to get her first look at an imperial audience chamber. From what she could see through the rapidly opening doors, it was a very large room; tall enough to fit two elephants standing on top of each other inside and long enough to fit a seven-car train in. It might have been longer than that, however, as Yui never was very good at judging distance. Marble pillars lined marble walls and floors, drawing the eye to a long staircase that stretched over halfway up the back wall. Atop this raised platform was a dais of sorts, a throne that appeared to be as gold as the doors resting there. Behind the throne was an elaborate painting of a bird that looked like a combination of a phoenix and a peacock in pure red. Was this Suzaku?

Tamahome marched inside slowly, Yui having no choice but to follow. A quick glance revealed assorted shades of darkness between the pillars that lined the way to the staircase. She took her eyes off of them and glanced ahead only to be aware of eyes watching her on all sides. She turned to look between the pillars, but it was too dark to tell if any person stood there or not.

A flash of movement on the throne caught her attention. There was a person sitting there, she realized. It was a man, wearing gold robes with black trim around the hems, motioning to a figure at the bottom of the steps. The man in the throne must be the emperor, Yui decided. The figure, dressed in blue, stood, waves of blond hair cascading down the back of the blue robes. Yui felt her breath catch in her throat. Was that Nakago there? He walked up the stairs in silence, head tilted upwards slightly as if always keeping his eyes on the emperor. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he drew the bouquet of flowers he held in the direction of the emperor, kneeling as best he could on the stairs. Yui realized that this was, most definitely, Nakago.

The emperor stood, twisting his wrist slightly and motioning upwards. Nakago stood in response, his back to Yui. Without warning, the emperor's raised hand darted forward, securing itself around Nakago's neck. He pushed his hand up further on the pale skin, causing Nakago's head to jerk upwards. Nakago let out a strangled gasp that carried easily in the large, empty room. The emperor's other hand moved upwards to, presumably, press against Nakago's cheek. As Nakago's head tilted slightly to Yui's right in response to the emperor's touch, Yui noticed that Nakago's posture seemed to be relaxing more as he became more comfortable with what was occurring. Yui was unsure whether to be pleased or disgusted when the emperor's head moved forward, presumably pressing his lips against Nakago's.

By this time, Tamahome, Yui, and the two soldiers that had accompanied them were a few feet away from the base of the staircase. Yui stared up at the dais where Nakago and the emperor stood, locked as they were. Tamahome cleared his throat to alert the emperor that he was there. It carried just as easily as Nakago's gasp had and did the trick. The emperor took his time about releasing Nakago from his grasp, slowly sinking backwards into his throne. Nakago turned towards the staircase again ready to descend it.

"No, Nakago," the emperor ordered. Nakago froze, his foot inches away from touching the step directly below the dais. Instantly, his foot joined him on the dais once again as he turned to look at the emperor, eyes looking at him curiously. "This should not take too long." The emperor made a slicing gesture to his right hand to a set of pillows by his right side. Nakago nodded once and moved towards them, sinking gracefully downwards onto them. The emperor watched his every movement with unveiled pleasure before returning his attention to Tamahome. "What do you want, Tamahome?"

"Heika-sama," Tamahome announced, bowing slightly from the waist. The emperor gave a slight growl of displeasure and made a circular motion with his hand, indicating to Tamahome to speed up whatever-it-was that he wanted to talk to him about. Tamahome turned, grabbing Yui's arm, armored hand branding her flesh through her the sleeve of her jacket. "I found this girl in one of your private gardens, heika-sama." So saying, he swung her around his body, pinning her arm behind her body. She gave a slight yelp of pain.

The emperor leaned forward a bit, his attention appropriately attracted by the girl. Her cry had also attracted the attention of Nakago, it seemed. He jerked his head up to stare at her, recognition blazing in his eyes for a moment as brightly as the symbol for heart had shone on his forehead mere minutes before. Without warning, the recognition there died as he lowered his eyes to stare at the hands that he had folded in his lap.

"She might be a refugee from Kutou, heika-sama," Tamahome continued.

"Is that so?" the emperor asked, tone thoughtful. "Well, then…perhaps we should show her what happens to people of Kutou who trespass on Konan soil."

"It would be well deserved, heika-sama," Tamahome was quick to agree, "what with the way she assaulted me."

Yui could put up with being called a refugee from Kutou, wherever that was. She could put up with the feeling that her arm was about to fall off; she had dealt with worse, after all. She could put up with being called a trespasser, as she apparently had done so without knowing she had. But the outright lie at what had transpired in the gardens was too much.

"_I_ assaulted _you_?" Yui demanded, wishing she could glare at Tamahome more than ever or, at the very least, kick him where she knew it would hurt. "_You_ were the one who tried to rape Miaka! How _dare_ you say that I tried to attack you!" Tamahome's grip on her arm tightened, a silent warning to be quiet. She forced herself to ignore it as she glanced up at the dais, looking right into the amber eyes of the emperor. "I admit it. We did trespass, but we didn't know we did! There was this blue light and-----"

"Repeat that," the emperor snarled, glaring at her.

"The…part about the blue light?" Yui asked, looking a bit confused.

The emperor did not move his head, but Yui distinctly caught his eyes darting to look at the kneeling figure beside him, eyes slightly narrowed. What did Nakago have to do with this? Then Yui remembered that Nakago had come to her defense in the gardens before. Nakago had been there! Surely he could defend her.

"Nakago! Tell him!" Yui shouted, looking at the blond man. Nakago looked at her, eyes and face expressionless as she continued. "Tell the emperor that I'm telling the truth!"

Now the emperor turned his head to look at Nakago, eyes still narrowed. His voice sounded controlled, almost as if he was forcing himself to say the words as calmly as possible. "Nakago. Is this true." It was not a question, more like a direct order.

Nakago stared at Yui for a moment, silence taking hold of the room as Tamahome once more tightened his grip on Yui's arm, threatening to break it. Yui's eyes locked on Nakago's, her eyes pleading, and his eyes vacant. He broke eye contact with her to stare at a point somewhere on the far wall just over Tamahome's head. Nakago spoke, voice soft and barely audible in the room, yet somehow still clear. "No, heika-sama. I have never seen this girl before in my life."

Yui's eyes widened. It was a direct lie! She had been there! She could not have imagined Nakago actually coming to her defense, had she? She had not imagined the ball of blue energy she had seen that had slammed into Tamahome to throw him from Miaka. She couldn't have. She didn't have _that_ much of an overactive imagination.

"Nakago! Tell them the truth!" Yui pleaded with the dejected-looking man on the dais. Tamahome was holding onto her arm tightly, otherwise she might have tried to get closer to him. Her body was shaking with fear and unshed tears of confusion. "PLEASE!? Tell them!"

The emperor cast another glance at Nakago, looking for something in the blue eyes that were turned down to once again study the hands in his lap. The emperor smiled thinly in a twisted form of veiled pleasure before turning his attention to Yui and Tamahome once again.

"Send the girl to Kaen, Tamahome. Nakago will be along shortly," the emperor ordered with a dismissive tone as his eyes once again flickered to the blonde man beside him. "If the girl proves to be obedient, you may keep her if it pleases you."

Yui could almost feel the animalistic smile creep onto Tamahome's face as his grip on her arm lessened. She stared up at the emperor, eyes filled with nothing more than pure hatred as she felt the man behind her bow from the waist. All at once, Tamahome ushered her from the room, trapped ahead of him, the doors all too soon scraping shut behind her.

Tamahome once again silently marched her down the hallway. Yui paid no attention to her surroundings as she walked, no concept of time registering within her mind. And then she walked straight into a wall of soft fabric. It took her a moment to realize that this was a person she had walked into. Slowly, she took a step back and gazed at the person that blocked the hallway.

It was a slim man that could have easily been mistaken for a woman. His arms were crossed over his chest, long purple braid draping over one shoulder. He was dressed in a long lilac tunic with long sleeves, hems edged with green, red pants appearing beneath the tunic, finished off by a pair of delicate black shoes. His gold eyes were narrowed at Yui, apparently highly annoyed.

"What is _this_?" he demanded, eyeing Yui in disapproval. He caught a glimpse of Tamahome over Yui's head and frowned even more. "_Really_, Tamahome. Keep out of my way, would you?" He tossed his braid over his shoulder imperiously. That motion alone was enough to convince Yui that she didn't like this newcomer at all.

"Ryuuen," Tamahome said through gritted teeth. Yui felt herself smile a bit. Apparently, Tamahome didn't like this man, either.

"What are _you_ smiling about?" Ryuuen snarled, eyes once again turning to her. He took a step forward, almost innocent face turning menacing with that one step. Yui backed up a pace, but Ryuuen was a bit too fast for her. His hands latched around her shoulders, nails digging into her back through the fabric of her jacket. "You're no better than _he_ is…a toy for heika-sama to manipulate as he pleases. Taking interest in that Kutou scum like you…I don't know why he does…"

"Hands off her, Ryuuen," Tamahome ordered. "This one is mine."

Yui did not feel up to contradicting Tamahome as Ryuuen's eyes left hers to meet Tamahome's.

"Yours? Heika-sama actually trusted you with her?" Ryuuen demanded, giving a snort of derision. "_I_ wouldn't have."

Tamahome bristled at the insult, eyes narrowing even more. "Why you little…"

"I don't think so," Ryuuen snapped, shoving Yui away from him. She stumbled backwards towards a wall as Ryuuen advanced on Tamahome. "Heika-sama happens to like me a hell of a lot more than he does you. Besides, after that little…slight to me a few weeks ago, heika-sama isn't too thrilled with you."

"Do not presume to speak for the emperor," Tamahome returned, eyes narrowing. "I am his shogun, whereas you…you are little more than a plaything. Do not think so highly of yourself, Ryuuen."

Ryuuen let out a strangled gasp of annoyance as his eyes narrowed even more than they had before. Intrigued by the conflict, Yui dared to take a step closer to them, although there was a nagging thought at the back of her mind that perhaps the fight might turn to blows. Before her fears could be realized, she became aware of another person in the hallway. Ryuuen was also aware of this fact, craning his neck around Tamahome's shoulder to see who it was. Yui followed his gaze to meet a very familiar blue robe, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Nakago had apparently escaped the emperor for the time being.

"Tamahome-dono, heika-sama has requested that the girl comes with me so I may show her what areas she is allowed and what she is not," Nakago said, voice as soft as it had been when Yui first met him. He did not seem to see Ryuuen, or, if he did, he was ignoring the purple-haired man.

Ryuuen averted his gaze from Nakago's, crossing his arms over his chest. After a moment of silence, Ryuuen spoke, voice annoyed, "Don't you have something you wish to say to me, Nakago?"

The look on Nakago's face clearly said, _Not particularly, no._ What actually came out of Nakago's mouth was, "Gomen nasai…Ryuuen-san. I didn't see you there. Forgive me."

Ryuuen smirked a bit. "That's better."

Yui inched carefully closer to Nakago as he turned his attention back to Tamahome. "May I have your permission to do as heika-sama instructed me to, Tamahome-dono?"

Yui glanced at Tamahome eagerly. She would like nothing more than to escape from the two feuding men and stay with Nakago at the moment, no matter how submissive Nakago would act around others. Anything would be better than remaining there. Tamahome gave Nakago a sharp nod of affirmation and, after casting a final glare at Ryuuen, stormed off down the hall. Ryuuen turned his attention to Nakago now, eyes narrowing a bit at him. Nakago caught the look and shied away from it, motioning rapidly to Yui. She took the hint and darted to Nakago, gently taking his hand. The skin felt relatively smooth, which Yui had been expecting, but parts of his hand seemed to have raised calluses that had smoothed over an extended period of time.

"Come on, Nakago," Yui said, tugging on his hand gently. "Let's go."

Nakago nodded, prying his hand from Yui's grasp. Silently, he led Yui off down the hall, leaving Ryuuen alone. Long moments passed as they walked in silence; Yui was a bit frightened to say anything within the halls of the palace. Soon, however, Nakago passed through a door, leaving Yui no choice but to follow. And then she was bathed in warm sunlight.

__________

Miaka stopped reading, flipping the pages towards somewhere in the middle of the book. She was expecting to see more inked writing as she had been seeing all ready. She noticed that the pages were the same texture as those that came before it, exactly the same coloring. However, the pages at this point in the book were totally blank. Her eyes widened.

"Na…NANI?!" Miaka exclaimed, staring at the blank pages in surprise. "What sort of screwed up book is this?" After a moment of consideration, she continued, speaking to the air as it was. "It…its like its writing itself as it goes. But that's impossible…"

She flipped back to where she had been, studying the text. Miaka scanned it, attempting to locate where she had left off. Her finger traced over the rough parchment until she located her place and she continued from there.

_While the young lady went on a tour of the palace, the emperor of Konan called one of the Suzaku seishi to him to talk about the young lady._

There was a bit of a pause and then…

"What's a Suzaku?"

__________

Hotohori could not recall ever being more annoyed than he was now. Nakago's disobedience he could tolerate to an extent. However, the girl would be a problem for him. She had mentioned blue light that had brought her here and had said Nakago could vouch for her. He knew Nakago had lied before him; had he not, Hotohori would have seen fit to punish him later. The girl…he suspected there was something more about her. He could not quite put his finger on it, however.

This girl was the source of his problems.

He scowled, slouching slightly in his chair, not caring how unlike him the action was. He was getting more frustrated by the minute. If the girl's story about the light were true, then that would mean disaster for Konan.

"You wanted to see me, heika-sama?"

Instinctively, Hotohori straightened and leaned forward slightly to see who was addressing him. It was a young man on his knees before the staircase. He was dressed in a dark blue, so dark that it seemed black. A staff was clenched in one of his hands. The hair was a rather light blue color, bangs seeming to be predominately sticking up in front, and hair falling into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Hotohori relaxed a bit; the hair gave who it was away. It was a man that he knew and trusted…one of the few in the palace these days.

"Yes," he replied, folding his hands. "You may stand."

"Heika-sama is most gracious," the man returned, straightening.

"My majesty would prefer to look at your face rather than the top of your head," Hotohori snapped.

"Forgive me, heika-sama." He raised his head to look at Hotohori, one of the few who dared. One orange-red eye stared at him, the other eternally sealed by a scar. "What troubles you, heika-sama?"

If there was one thing that Hotohori hated, it was the man in front of him acting as though he could read other people's minds.

"None of your tricks today, Chichiri," Hotohori ordered. "We are not in the mood."

"Whatever it is, it seems to be bothering you greatly, heika-sama," Chichiri continued as if Hotohori had not spoken. Hotohori scowled again, gripping the armrests of his throne tightly. Chichiri noted the reaction, the barest hint of a smile crossing his face. "Why don't you tell me what it is? I might be able to help."

"That girl," was Hotohori's response through gritted teeth. "The one Tamahome brought in here."

"Ah…the young lady," Chichiri said knowingly. "I was watching when Tamahome arrived. I saw the young woman. Quite…interesting, actually." The smile disappeared in an instant. In a rather serious tone, he added, "She is no Kutou refugee as Tamahome claims, heika-sama."

Hotohori's eyes narrowed slightly. "What?" he asked, voice turning dangerous.

__________

Yui and Nakago walked across the pavilions of the palace in silence. During the course of the walk, Yui was beginning to wonder if the emperor had given Nakago an excuse to leave his presence to talk about something without a servant around. She only half-paid attention to the places Nakago showed her, lost in her own thoughts. Tamahome had said that Yui was a refugee of Kutou, whatever or wherever that was. Given her personal appearance, might Tamahome have made that assumption because her hair and eyes resembled Nakago's? Nakago most certainly didn't seem to be from this area. She shrugged her shoulders, gathering her courage to ask Nakago.

"Ne…Nakago-san…" Yui started.

"Yes, my lady?" Nakago replied, not looking at her. Yui frowned. Formality for her when she was supposed to be a servant of Tamahome's if she cooperated? That didn't seem right.

"My name is Yui. Hongo Yui," she told him, hoping that would get him to drop the formality.

"Did you wish to ask me something, Yui-san?" Nakago wondered. Yui sighed. Getting him to stop being so formal around her was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

"Nakago-san, could you not call me that?" Yui asked. "I'm not any higher up on this social ladder than you are."

"Everyone is more important than I am," Nakago whispered. "Heika-sama says so. His word is truth."

Yui froze, eyes widening involuntarily. To hear words like that come out of his mouth… what had the emperor done to him to make him say something like that? She ran to catch up to him, fully intent on figuring out exactly what was going on in this place.

"And you listen to him?" Yui demanded incredulously.

"I am his," was the simple reply. "I…I belong to him."

"You can't tell me you actually enjoy it!" Yui insisted. "It isn't right for people to be treated like property for the upper class to do with as they please!"

Nakago stopped abruptly. Yui stopped, as well, and looked at him. His gaze looked towards the floor of the pavilion, hair veiling his face on either side. Yui moved in front of him to see his facial expression. His eyes were sad…almost reluctant.

"I hate him," Nakago said without much conviction. "He destroyed my country…my people…my emperor…"

"Wait a second," Yui said, cutting him off. "What do you mean, he destroyed your country? You mean you aren't from…wherever the heck we are now?"

He raised his eyes briefly to study her in confusion. "No. I am of Kutou. Konan conquered it five months ago. Everyone knows that."

"I wouldn't," Yui said, eyes widening a bit. She spoke more to herself than to Nakago now, studying her crossed arms as she thought aloud. "That explains the destroyed city I saw. And if Suzaku is a phoenix, then he can't be the dragon I saw hovering over…"

"Dragon?" Nakago demanded, blue eyes fixing on her. Surprised, Yui glanced up at him. His eyes were serious. Surprised, but ultimately serious. "What was that about a dragon?"

__________

"What do you mean, Chichiri?" Hotohori demanded. "Her hair and eyes resemble that of Nakago. He is of Kutou…"

"His tribe was wiped out many years ago, heika-sama," Chichiri explained. "He is the sole survivor."

"Then…" Hotohori started. The thought he had in his mind was replaced with an even graver thought. His eyes widened, staring at Chichiri in shock. "No. That's impossible."

"Why is it so hard to believe, heika-sama?" Chichiri asked with a bit of a shrug.

Hotohori glared at him. "Are you trying to tell me that girl is a miko?"

"Hai, heika-sama," Chichiri replied, nodding once for emphasis. His bangs bounced as he did so. "Unfortunately, she is not the chosen of Suzaku."

Hotohori felt his eyes narrow a bit. "That means she's Seiryuu no miko, then. With the blue light she mentioned, there's no other way she could be anyone but Seiryuu no miko." He cursed under his breath, pounding a fist on the arm of his throne. He felt his body grow rigid with anger. He knew what Seiryuu no miko meant for Konan. That girl would be Kutou's instrument of revenge.  "Put up the wards around the Suzaku shrine. If she goes anywhere near it, we want her to suffer."

"As you wish, heika-sama."

__________

"I…that is…" Yui started, trying to break her eyes away from the intense stare that Nakago was giving her but finding that she could not. She sighed. She had best tell him everything. "I'm not from here, Nakago-san. I was reading this book, the Universe of the Four Gods or something like that, in the library and it sucked Miaka and me into it. Miaka must have gone back or something, but I didn't. Before we found the book, I saw a dragon hovering over a ruined city. It was glowing with this blue light and then blue light brought me and Miaka here…"

Nakago's eyes widened slightly, looking at her. Yui was starting to wonder if Nakago would believe her or not. Without warning, his eyes grew cold again and looked away from her. "That's impossible."

"Why?" Yui demanded. "Why do you find that so hard to believe?"

"Because if Seiryuu even gave a damn about us, He would have summoned the miko here before Konan destroyed us," Nakago snapped. Yui watched him. There was a hint of sadness and betrayal hidden behind the blue eyes. He couldn't think that Seiryuu had betrayed his country…could he? "Kutou exists in name only because He refused to get off His ass and send us the miko. And because of Him, my entire country is destroyed."

"Miko?" Yui asked, frowning. The book had mentioned a young lady who gathered the seven seishi of Seiryuu…was the 'young lady' the miko Nakago mentioned? "Look, Nakago-san, I'm sorry about your country…"

"What would you know of it?!" Nakago shouted, allowing emotion to creep into his blue eyes. Yui could see pain and hatred there, wrapped behind sorrow. "You didn't see it destroyed right in front of you! You didn't see innocent people slaughtered…homes destroyed…"

"I said I was sorry…"

"Unless you can bring it back, don't bother apologizing to me." He stopped suddenly, looking at her. Nakago lowered his eyes again, once again never directly looking at Yui. "Gomen nasai, Yui-san. I didn't mean to snap at you. Forgive me."

She nodded, then glanced around the pavilion in which they stood. The palace served as a dramatic background for the immediate area. What immediately caught her eye was a building that was separate from the main palace. A large staircase led up to it, gold doors with what looked like a bird engraved on it keeping it separate from the rest of the world. Her curiosity piqued, Yui took a step closer to see it better.

"Ne…Nakago-san? What's that building over there?" Yui asked, pointing to it.

Nakago glanced up to see where she was pointing and took in a sharp breath. "That's the Suzaku shrine. We're not allowed up there. Or…at least I'm not. I'm a Seriyuu no shichiseishi…so I'm not allowed. Suzaku won't allow me to enter it."

"I don't want to _enter_ it," Yui said stubbornly. "I just want to look inside. Would that be okay?" She turned around to look at Nakago. His eyes were wide, fear crossing his gaze.

"No. No it wouldn't, Yui-san. You could get into a lot of trouble if you did…" Nakago told her. He studied her for a moment, as if assessing her determination to enter a place which they were not allowed under any circumstances. Yui crossed her arms over her chest, meeting his gaze boldly. "Yui-san, we aren't allowed to be anywhere _near_ the Suzaku shrine! If we were caught---"

"Which we won't, Nakago-san," she assured him, uncrossing her arms. "If we're caught, I'll take all the blame for it. I promise."

"No," Nakago said firmly. The two stared at each other for a few moments, neither willing to back down. Finally, Nakago turned again. "Come on, Yui-san. I should show you the gardens now…"

Nakago started off in the direction of the gardens. Yui knew full well where the gardens were from here; she could make out the tops of trees and other exotic plants in the distance. She took a step after Nakago. Then, she stopped, and turned her attention back towards the Suzaku shrine. What harm could come from taking a look inside it? Despite the fact that Nakago had told her not to, she turned and jogged quietly towards the building. Up the stairs she went, taking them two at a time. After a few moments, the gold doors of the Suzaku shrine loomed in front of her. There was a carving of Suzaku embossed on the door, his feet the door handles. It was rather creative if she thought about it. Yui reached forward to place her hands on the door handles.

"YUI-SAN!" a voice shouted. Was that Nakago? "Get away from there! Yui-san!"

Paying the voice no heed, she gripped the door handles tightly and flung the doors open. She took a step inside towards a gorgeous gold statue of Suzaku. And then, much to her surprise, red light streaked down from the door frame, shooting through her. Pain spread from the top of her head downwards, sending a burning sensation through her body. She screamed in pain, falling backwards. It felt like every part of her was on fire. All she could see in front of her eyes was flames… She felt herself falling backwards, only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. She glanced up, seeing a pair of blue eyes staring at her. They held a combination of annoyance and surprise within them. There was something else that was blue, too… was that the symbol for heart?

"You came," he whispered. Yui managed to figure out this was Nakago by the voice. Voice tainted with surprise, he continued. "You…you really came. You're really here…Seiryuu no miko."

…TBC…

**Notes:** ::wail:: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to take as long as it did! I think this is the shortest chapter of the three I've written. Only twelve pages where the others are close to twenty. Figures, ne? The main goal of this chapter was to introduce the idea that Yui was Seiryuu no miko. There was really no other point to this chapter. ^^ Okay, I lied. See, Kim? I threw in Ryuuen just for you. ^^ No Kaen/Soi yet again. She will show up next chapter.

No translation of random Japanese here. Everything in this chapter I've used before. HOWEVER, it is time for Reversal Akugi! You know those sections in Fushigi Yuugi where Watase-sama completely re-writes a section of the story to make it humorous? My turn!

REVERSAL AKUGI #1

**Tamahome: **One: I am your superior officer and I trained you to follow my orders. Two: I am a Suzaku no shichiseishi, which gives me equal social status with heika-sama.

**Soldiers:** Uh…

**Yui:** You're on equal footing with the emperor? Since when?

**Tamahome:** ::realizes what he just said:: Shit… if heika-sama hears this…

**Hotohori: **…which I did.

**Tamahome:** Crap.

REVERSAL AKUGI #2

**Yui:** ::opens the doors to the Suzaku shrine, sees the gold statue of Suzaku::

**Choir:** ::singing:: Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

**Yui:** The…hell?

REVERSAL AKUGI #2 – Take 2

**Yui:** ::opens the doors to the Suzaku shrine, sees the gold statue of Suzaku::

**Choir:** (a la Tenkuu no Escaflowne) Es-caaaaaaaaaaaa-flooooooooooow-ne!

**Suzaku:** I'm Suzaku. Not some stupid suit of armor.

**Choir:** Suuuuuu-zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

**Yui:** ::sighs:: Oh brother.

REVERSAL AKUGI #3

**Miaka:** ::reading the book and, instead of translating what's there, reads:: "Amun kum Ra, Amun kum Dei." It speaks of the night and of the day…

**Mummy Fans:** No! You must not read from the book!

Sorry. Multiple random references here. I'm done now. Have fun!


End file.
